Brandeis Magazine

Lois Spiro Robblee lives in Brooksby Village, a retirement community in Peabody, Massachusetts. As of early summer, there had been only four cases of COVID-19 among the 1,800 residents. “I have discovered there isn’t much you can’t order online and have delivered,” Lois writes. “We still have a way to go to get back to our community’s full menu of activities and amenities, such as in-restaurant dining, lectures, religious services and movies, but we hope they will be restored in the not-too-distant future. Since mid-March, I have been busy working on sun catchers and other stained-glass projects. I have physical-fitness DVDs that give me a good workout in my apartment. And a significant amount of time is spent communicating with friends and family via phone, email and the occasional Zoom meeting. I hope all my fellow alums out there are keeping well and managing to endure this terrible health crisis.” Marshall Sterman, P’80, P’83, has been appointed to the board of advisers for Plymouth Rock Technologies, which develops threat-detection solutions. Alfred Zadig is an Episcopal priest at All Saints Church, in Warwick, Rhode Island. He writes, “The pandemic brought profound changes to my parish — we were completely closed for four months. Not having the technology for doing virtual worship services, I simply called every family once a week to connect with them and, when needed, arrange for food deliveries and so on. Finally, on July 5, we were allowed to reopen the church with a simple service. It was a strange experience to celebrate Mass wearing a mask.”